With a story to tell and a message to spread, Christian singer-songwriter, Stephen Stanley uncovers and redefines what it truly means to trust in new album, trustfall, released on April 25. Stanley has found trust to be his lifeline, something that offers stability and peace, by repeatedly making the critical decision to remain faithful in his journey. By confronting his battles with depression and mental health head-on in trustfall, and even taking it a step further by producing it himself in a closet space, Stanley turns himself into an open book, using music as a way to reach those who have also gone through similar struggles.
In an interview with Melodic Magazine, Stephen Stanley speaks on how his background of growing up in the church and connecting with music at an early age has allowed him to build a foundation at the intersection of faith and music, and the fulfillment and opportunities it has brought him. While currently touring the album on the Trustfall Tour, Stanley shares how every show has been memorable and life-changing.
Your genre-bending, vulnerable album, trustfall, released on April 25th, is an introspective piece that shares your journey of facing dark times and self-doubt by finding light and hope through your faith. How has it felt to release this deeply personal piece to the world and share your experiences?
Yeah, it’s been very amazing, especially seeing people sing the songs on the road, on tour, at shows. It’s been kind of unbelievable because I’ve never really done this before and the fact that it’s out is just a huge relief, to be honest with you.
From the moment you started creating this album, were there any messages or anything you hoped audiences would gain from listening to it?
Yeah I mean, the whole theme of the record is trust, hence the title, so it’s all about faith and trust, which are pretty close to being the same thing. And you know, every aspect of that, and what that means. The second to last song is called “find some peace of mind” and that song’s about forgiveness and I think it takes a lot of trust and faith to be able to forgive someone that wronged you. So there’s just different aspects like that, you know, that we sort of go into on the record.
The second track, “gonna have to trust you” that comes after the beautiful instrumental track, “<?>,” opens the album with a straightforward statement. You’re making it clear that you’re going to be trusting your faith on your journey and on this album. What made you want to start the album with a song that dives straight into your decision to trust your faith after feeling lost?
So that song I’ve never told like the full story about that song, because it’s kind of crazy. I basically had this crazy dream and that’s how I got inspired to write that song and it was the first song I wrote for the album. There were some things that happened where I thought it was going to make it really difficult to keep going, like as far as music goes. I was in a place where either I trust God and keep going or I have to stop. Those are the only two options—you know and stop and figure something else out—but I said I’d keep going and that was the first song I wrote for the album. And I think just everything else, every other song, just kind of came from that one song, as the setup for the whole story, I guess.
“Hell or high water” was the last song you wrote for trustfall, and is a very powerful one. You’re almost choosing the direction you’re going to take by questioning if your unwavering faith would be there to strengthen and assist you through your struggles. What was it like creating and sharing such a vulnerable song that touches on the almost unspoken parts of remaining faithful during dark times?
That was honestly one of the songs I was most nervous about, because the way it sounds and even some of the lyrical contents are a little bit different than what I normally do. It is a little bit more of a darker, you know, vulnerable song and it’s kind of a slow burn kind of song too. It takes a minute and then it gets in it as more acoustic driven, but out of all the songs on trustfall, that is definitely one of the ones that I’m most—out of all the songs I’ve ever released—that is one of the songs I’m most proud of, just from the writing and how it sounds, and the musicality of it. And the message of it too, it’s like, I know we’ve all been there, whether you’re like me and you deal with some mental health things and depression, we all have been in that moment in life because life always has a way of dealing your bad hand.
Your album cover art depicts you with a vibrant fire circling the top of your head, covering your eyes, with everything else remaining black and white. Is there symbolism behind this? What was the creative reasoning behind this cover?
There is symbolism behind it, for sure, if some people can’t tell. And I think that’s maybe we could have probably made it a little bit more visible, but I’m blindfolded and the blindfold is on fire, and I’m not on fire.
Divided Frame Of Mind also has that same concept, but instead of fire, there’s lightning covering your face. Did you want them to go hand in hand or are they their own separate albums? Why was there a continuation of the black and white portrait?
Yeah, we talked about it because I mean trustfall is almost, I would say musically, it’s somewhat of a departure from the first record, but it’s almost like a sequel in a way. So we kind of wanted to keep a similar theme, like at least just that portrait with my face sort of facing the same kind of direction and things like that. I don’t know if we’ll do that for record three, but I think that’s just what we talked about early on, is trying to find something that would be kind of cohesive with the first record.
Continuing on the topic of comparing Divided Frame Of Mind to trustfall, how was the songwriting and production process similar or different this time around?
I would say trustfall was very different. With Divided Frame Of Mind, I worked with two amazing producers, Ted T and Jake Holm. On this album, we kind of started working how we did on the first record, but I just had this feeling. I never thought I would do this, but I called my label and different people and I said, I think I want to produce this album myself, just me on my own. I called a friend who wrote probably on like four or five songs, his name is Zach Epps, and asked him if he would be my editor. So basically, I would produce the song and then he would, you know, correct all my mistakes. Yeah, so I basically made probably 85/90 percent of this album just in a closet.
As an artist who works with a team of co-writers, what was it like to share a part of yourself by letting co-writers into your mind while bringing trustfall to life?
On my first record, I really tried to get used to that. When I first started writing songs and going to Nashville and writing with different people, it was weird and it was hard to kind of describe what you wanted. Eventually, even if I didn’t know them, I just started being really open and honest immediately and just sort of breaking the ice that way. I found that’s where the better songs come from, when you’re all on the same page. And I’ve kind of had to learn to do that even just with the music, like everybody kind of knowing what I’m going through and in my business. It’s like this songwriter guy or gal should probably know what I’m going through. It’s weird, for sure, it can be awkward, but once you get past it, I think you’ll write a great song.
In your bio on your website, it says you picked up the guitar after suffering an accident that left you deaf in one ear at nine years old, which led to you finding and channeling your musical talent and gift for melody. Alongside music, you led worship at church. Has music and faith always gone hand in hand for you or was there a point in your life where you discovered that you could bring them together?
Yeah, I mean music and faith always went together. That’s where I learned to play music, at the church literally. I listened Christian music, but not only Christian music. It wasn’t super, like, legalistic or anything, so if I wanted to listen to Led Zeppelin or, you know, My Chemical Romance or something like that it was fine, so I definitely did. But there was a certain point where I was questioning, my dad’s a pastor, so I was kind of questioning whether I believe because of where I was born in the world and because who my dad is—which I think if you grow up in church, that’s like, kind of a common thing that you go through when you’re in your late teens or so—but I had this crazy experience with God when I was leading worship in the mountains in Tennessee and it was super amazing. I thought I was gonna be a worship leader, like a worship pastor at a church for a long time and I did that from 17 to 18 and it was a terrible experience, and it just was not what I wanted to do. I knew I wanted to make music, and I knew my faith was super important to me, and they just kind of went together, and I knew that’s what I wanted to do.
What gates have singing about your faith and journey opened for you? Has it personally fulfilled you in any way?
Oh, yeah, I will say this, I have two kids now and a wife. We’ve been married nine years in August and the more I do music and if I see music as like a calling, and this is what God wants me to do, it’s never going to be fulfilling. There’s always going to be more, no matter how high my TikTok follower count gets, or how much a song streams, like it’s going to make me happy, but it’s not going to bring me joy, if that makes sense. But, if I keep it in the right frame of mind, and I see this as, you know, I want to help people, maybe if someone can hear my story and what I’ve gone through and it can actually help, that’s fulfilling to me because that’s more like ministry. God and family is truly fulfilling, and that’s what brings me joy. And music can be fulfilling if it’s not just me, and it’s not just for vanity or fame or money. If it’s truly to help people and talk about faith and talk about God, then that’s what’s going to bring me fulfillment.
You’re currently on your Trustfall Tour, kind of in the lower middle of it. How has it been performing this album in front of a live audience? What is the overall atmosphere like?
It’s insane, like obviously I miss my family, we’re six weeks out, so that’s a little difficult, but being out on the road actually meeting people, like I’ve been on Tiktok and Instagram since like 2020, and I didn’t really get to tour a whole lot, so actually finally getting off social media and meeting these folks in person has been, I mean, I will never forget this ever and I want to do it again immediately.
Have you had the chance to play any bucketlist venues and are there any memorable shows that have stood out to you on this specific tour?
Oh yeah. I mean every show has something memorable. Last night, we were in Portland. Portland was awesome. We were in this crazy theater with this amazing art on the walls and stuff, and it was super tight. So lots of great stuff. I mean, our bus broke down, we’ve had some things go wrong, but nothing crazy, so that’s the best part. Nobody’s died or broken any bones or anything, so we’re good.
Listen to trustfall here, check out the remainder of tour dates below, and purchase tickets here.
TRUSTFALL TOUR DATES:
Fri. May 30 – Vibes Underground – San Antonio, TX
Sat. May 31 – The Rail Club Live – Fort Worth, TX
Sun. June 1 – Scout Bar – Houston, TX
Mon. June 2 – Beer City Music Hall – Oklahoma City, OK
Wed. June 4 – The Basement East – Nashville, TN
Thu. June 5 – Workplay Theatre – Birmingham, AL
Fri. June 6 – Vinyl at Center Stage – Atlanta, GA
Keep up with Stephen Stanley:
Website // Instagram // Facebook // TikTok // YouTube
